Gertrude Baker
"Gertrude Baker always had an opinion about such things." —Thompson Skeeter referring to Hogwarts' proposed chastity belts in Bad Company Gertrude is a seventh year Ravenclaw student currently studying at Hogwarts. She is very politically minded and dreams of working for the ministry and making a difference in the world. Despite all of this, she isn't actually particularly rebellious and takes great joy out of leading an honest Christian life. Biography Early Life Gertrude Baker was the second child born to Nicholas Baker and his Irish-born wife, Emily, in Manchester on the 7th June 1867. They had a son already, James. Gertrude led a content childhood, she had two loving parents and did not starve to death. As a child, she was very close to her elder brother James. The two were very similar and often spent their days hanging out together. She was also incredibly close to her younger and only sister, Nora. Gertrude often was tasked with looking after Nora and absolutely adored her. After a period of being educated, Gertrude began working with James at the local cotton mill. However this ended in July 1878 when it was revealed that Gertrude was a witch. Gertrude and Mr and Mrs Baker were not too pleased with this, but her brothers thought it was amazing. After lengthy discussion, it was decided that Gertrude was allowed to go to Hogwarts. Hogwarts 1878-1879 - First Year After arriving at Hogwarts on the 1st September, Gertrude was sorted into Ravenclaw. After discovering that this was where the more intelligent of students tended to be sorted, she was quite pleased. She made some friends here and there, but was more focussed on her studies. Thankfully, this paid off as her scholarship was extended to her second year. 1882-1883 - Fifth Year Gertrude’s scholarship was continued each year to the point that she managed to sit her OWLs at the end of her fifth year. She was prepared to leave at this point, as her other lower class friends were leaving or had already left and she had no reason to continue, but her parents (now incredibly proud of the elder daughter) asked her to remain on until she was eighteen, ensuring her they could afford her not working for two more years. 1883-1884 - Sixth Year At the beginning of her sixth year, Gertrude began to doubt her decision to remain. She no longer had any friends at school and was starting to feel quite lonely. However, she soon became closer to Annette "Anne" Fontaine. Later in the year Gertrude earned herself a scholarship from Astrid Parkinson, which paid for her final year at school. She also earned a summer internship at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. 1884-present - Seventh Year After completing her summer internship, Gertrude started her seventh year at school, hoping to do a proper internship after leaving school in the May of the next year. Even though she hoped to have an uneventful year with her only working, this was not to be. In September, Gertrude was bitten by head girl Ellory Pendergast (who had been turned into a llama by Antigone Baudelaire) and then in December, due to magical mistletoe Gertrude had her first kiss - and her second too! These were with her friend Anne and Ignatius Wilde, a Gryffindor in her year. Category:Characters